Golf-club shaft



June 7,' 1927. Y 1,631,926

R. E. DICKINSON, JR

GOLF CLUB SHAFT Filed Jan. 24, 1927 Yea lmnp Patented June 7, 1927.

` UNITED `STATES fr vi n GoLrfcLUB SHAFT.

Application ledanuary 24, 1927, Serial No.` 162;,102. i

Golf club shafts as now manufactured from wood, are not uniform as to weight,

iexibility, elasticity, torsion and strength,

and moreover are subject to warping, par ticularly when used in damp air on the green and then subjected to dry air in the clull house. e

It is the primary object of my invention to provide novel means whereby these difficulties may be overcome, and I attain this end by providing a shaft turned from a single solid piece of hard wood such as hickory and providedwith a longitudinal bore in which a spring metal tube is snugly held. By placing tubes of varying lengths, thickness and resiliency in shafts having non-uniform characteristics, selecting the proper tube for each shaft, their shortcomings may be corrected, andV the completed shafts made substantially vuniform as to weight, flexibility, elasticity, torsion and strength, and it is worthy of note that the external uniformity of the wood, is not disturbed but remain the same as in a first f class all-wood shaft.

A tube having its interior unoccupied tendsto produce an undesirable sound and has a tendency to jerk the .players hands when striking a ball, and hence I prefer to provide a filler for said tube which will overcome these tendencies. Moreover, under a great amount of flexure, a tube with its interior empty, will change its cross sectional shape and tend to flatten. Such change of shape is necessarily imparted to the surrounding wood, with a tendency to split the saine. A further aim of the invention however is to utilize a hard wood Vfiller in the tube which will minimize its tendency to Hatten under excessive fiexure and hence will overcome the liability of splitting the shaft. It will also be observed that by using the same kind of' wood for the shaft body and the tube filler, the advantageous y N 1,631,926. A'1 `i\.'1s1\1r OFFICE.

showing the club head andthe shaft connected.

Fig.` 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2,

showing a somewhat modified g construction.

Fig. 7 is a transverse section on line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

In carrying vmy invention into effect, I first take a length of hickory doweling 8 and forni a vloore 9 in its aXail portion and of a length determined by the characteristics to be imparted to thev completed shaft and by the kind of club head with which it is to be used. Next, a length of hickory doweling l() .is forced tightly into the spring steel tuhe 11 which has been selected for use, and this tube l1 `with the doweling l() therein, are tightly forced into the bore 9,

` being of such length as to terminate somewhat above the lower end of said bore.

rIhe unoccupied portion of the bore is thenv plugged by a short piece of hickory dowelinor 1Q. Now, the entire assemblage is place in a lathe and turn-ed to the desired'shape,

as disclosed in Fig. 3. The finished shaft is into the socket 13 preferably about one inch so as to reinforce the shaft against breakage at the openend of said socket.

If desired, instead of using the plain tube 11 shown in Figs. 1 to 5, I may make use of a tube 11u having a sharp longitudinal ridge or key at its exterior.

This ridge or key tightly embeds in the surrounding wood, when the tube is being forced into the bore 9, and thus tightly anchors lthe tube in place, Moreover, by connecting the tube with the wood in this manner, torsional strain upon the former is transmitted also tothe tube.

` When the ridge `or key 11b is employed,

it ispreferably formed by outwardly bend.- ing one edge of the sheet fof steel, from which the tubeis formed, as will be clear from Fig. 7. f

By employing the novel construction shown and described, or a substantial equivalent thereof, 'a vgolf shaft `is produced hav-V ing the advantageous characteristics hereiny before enumerated.

I claim: Y

1. A golf club shaft comprisinga single v solid piece of wood turned toV shape and formed with a central longitudinal f'bore, which opens throughl its lower end, a spring nieial Jnube snugly held in said bore and terminating' a short distance from *die lower end thereof, a Wood dowel snugly fitted into Said tube, and second Wood dowol Snugly fitted into the lower poition oi the bore and abutting the lower ends of Suid tube and the iist named dowel, Said` tube eX- tendingv into the poi'ion oi the sim-.ifi for iecept-ion in die usual socket of 'the Club liezid.

`2. A golf club shaft Comprising a Single solid piece of Wood turned io shane :1nd oinied with a central longitudinal bore, and a one-piece spring metal tube snugly ROBERT E. DICKINSON, Jn. 

